TURKEY’S ROLE IN ADVANCING ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY: THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS) FRAMEWORK REVIEW

Abstract

In the last 15 years, Türkiye has attained all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with remarkable success and is among the best in the reduction of poverty, child goals. mortality, This and sustainable success development environmental has strategies. Since paved sustainable the the 7th development way Development concepts SDG for Plan with implementation Sustainable the in the will Development sustainable 1996, 11th be Commission development the NDP private headed will goals NDPs integrating sector, facilitate which by have the non-governmental SDGs. form the the The embraced SDGs organizations the Ministry coordination. Turkish as and backbone of Awareness Statistical the academic of Development among Institute main institutions the with the (TurkStat) goals. are current a public, will The considered focus political be important for on support, responsible the policy and for achievement coherence involvement tracking of while of the the the the progress enhanced and National this will entail ensuring that the national indicators are in conformity with the UN framework and also addressing the data gaps. Türkiye has progressed in the environmental SDGs by paying attention to biodiversity, sustainable agriculture, climate adaptation, water management, energy efficiency, and ‘zero waste’ strategies. The Turkish Co-operation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) has been implementing bilateral projects in the country as Turkey’s development cooperation has evolved over the years. However, there are issues that include the challenge of breaking policy silos, enhancing data quality and ensuring proper stakeholder engagement. The country’s experience underlines the importance of the mutual learning and international cooperation in addressing these issues. However, the current research is designed using a qualitative research approach to assess Türkiye’s contribution to the environmental sustainability through the SDG framework based on literature reviews, project evaluation, and comparison.